Nonexistent Candles
by The Sushi Monster
Summary: Enzo's dead and it's Bonnie's birthday. In the end, he doesn't have to celebrate alone.


**Notes:** Prompt was "Enzo celebrates Bonnie's birthday while he's in 'hell'" but I also had this idea of Enzo/Tyler bonding in hell so this is what happened.

* * *

In Augustine, Enzo picked up a trick - he counted days. It's taxing at times, but the rotations of guards and scientists is routine and it keeps him _somewhat_ sane. So he felt the walls for the sun and mentally counted the number of days in captivity.

(It was something like 26,645.)

In hell, Enzo falls back on old habits.

On day two, he realizes it's Bonnie's birthday.

There's no cake or balloons or _Bonnie_ \- just darkness and fire, a burning that fills his heart and his lungs and every inch of his being, twisting and shredding and scratching at his insides. He's turned inside out and beaten, then put back right again. Enzo has dealt with pain and torture all his life, but he'll admit that Hell earns its name.

It's in a brief moment of peace - even _here_ there has to be a calm before the storm - that he realizes he's not alone.

Enzo knows this, of course, that hell is filled with damned souls. But he watches as a women's skin turns gray and tears fall on her face, quickly smoking away at the fire of her cheeks. He watches a man scream and rip nails down his face, a name across his lips.

He watches as Tyler Lockwood crawls towards him.

The former werewolf's knees are bloodied and muddy and his eyes glow yellow. Enzo blinks and Tyler lets out a tiny, pained, grin. "I always thought you'd end up here."

Enzo opens his mouth then closes it again. He blinks. Then he smirks, despite how painful it is. "Happy to see you too." Tyler chuckles, a harsh contrast to the screams of pain around them, and Enzo suddenly feels the smallest degree of warmth in his cold heart.

"It's Bonnie's birthday," says Enzo, because Tyler's not his friend but he's Bonnie's and right now, she is all that matters. Enzo's stretched out, his feet tapping against each other. "I brought her a stuffed bear. Mr. Cuddles."

Tyler curls up next to him, against the cold rock walls. "Mr. Cuddles? What happened to the misses?"

"I lost her when I saved her from the Armory." Memories are hard to hold onto in hell, but everything about Bonnie will always be engrained into the crevices of his brain.

Tyler turns his head, a wry smile on his face. "You mean kidnapped." Enzo tries to glare, but he's exhausted, so he rolls his eyes. Tyler grins, somehow. "She wrote me letters, you know."

"I do. Who do you think delivered them?"

"I never told her I slept with her ex-boyfriend."

Enzo snorts, hard and loud, and his chest heaves with ash and dust. But his heart feels less heavy and even his coughs feel freeing. "You and Gilbert, huh?" His head falls back and he closes his eyes. "How come he wasn't at the funeral?"

Even though he can't see, Enzo knows Tyler's eyes flash with _something_. "He wasn't?"

Enzo leans closer. "Neither was I." Despite how much it hurts, talking helps. "Blissful detachment from my humanity and all."

Tyler doesn't say anything and Enzo forces himself to look over. With his fingers dancing in the graveled dirt, Tyler frowns, rubbing dust between his hands. "I hope he's okay," he finally says, quietly, the background of terrified screams and anguished sobs dulled by their closeness. "I hope - "

"He wouldn't be here," says Enzo, just as quiet. Another memory - Bonnie curled up in his lap, a journal in her hands, whispering her entry to Elena as Enzo curled her hair between his fingers. "He's good."

This time Tyler looks at him, eyes slightly narrowed. "He's better than you. But this place - " He squeezes his knees closer to his chest. "This place is all or nothing."

"I deserve this," says Enzo. His stomach hurts and he idly wonders if he's still supposed to drink blood here. "You and Jeremy - you shouldn't be here." Even before his heart clenches, the utter terror he's just barely managed to sideline tries to surface. Enzo sighs loudly. "Bonnie can't be here."

"She loved you," says Tyler, and Enzo thinks he's reassuring himself too.

"I know."

"And you love her," he says, and maybe there's a point to vocalizing dreams and wishes when every inch of the body wants to shatter.

"Always."

Enzo watches Tyler stretch his legs, frowning. He sketches a rectangle onto the ground, three lines extending upwards. After adding tiny squiggles atop the lines, he draws a _B_ in the rectangle. Enzo smiles as Tyler draws another _B_.

"Happy birthday, Bonnie Bennett," says Tyler and for a second, Enzo lets himself pretend she's there, laughing and excited and preparing herself to blow out the nonexistent candles. "May we never see you ever again."

His heart crumbles in his chest even as the words leave his lips. "May we never see you again," says Enzo and for the first time in two days, Enzo wants to cry.

The image of Bonnie in his head frowns at him, green eyes flickering with disappointment. _What happened to the Enzo who didn't lose hope? Who believed there was always a solution? Who wouldn't accept death until he was sucked into the great oblivion?_

Except, of course, _this_ is the great oblivion Enzo had fought those many years ago. With a younger Bonnie, who was ready to give up hope and her life. His Bonnie was older, wiser, and still a fighter. And when his Bonnie smiles at him, a ghost of a kiss on his cheek, his heart picks up. "Tyler," says Enzo, his eyes widening just slightly. "Do you want to see Jeremy again?"

Tyler frowns. "I don't want him anywhere near this hellhole."

And Enzo grins, for the first time in two days, wide and hopeful, his Bonnie fading but her light seated firmly in his heart. Tyler stares at him like he's crazy - and maybe Enzo is, always was, and always will be - but there's a sparkle in his eye. Enzo forces his muscles to cooperate and stands. Looking up at him, Tyler hesitates - until Enzo reaches down, offering a hand.

"Then let's get the hell out of Hell."

Tyler pauses, eyes glancing between the offered hand and Enzo's grinning face, before grabbing it and pulling himself up.

(The two men grin at each other, somehow full of hope, while the world continue to burn around them.)


End file.
